Distance et recours à l’expertise en cancérologie. Expérience des contraintes géographiques chez des patients du Centre Léon Bérard (Lyon)

While patients with chronic illnesses may be obliged to travel long distances to access health care, the impact of this distance on their quality of life remains relatively little studied. Semi-directional interviews were conducted with 27 patients from the Center Leon Berard (Lyon), who had been in remission of their cancer for at least two years, concerning their care pathways and their experience of care. Patients report that they have accepted the distance, because of the severity of their illness. Nevertheless, this constraint appears indirectly in the implementation of certain adaptation strategies, aimed at mitigating the effects of these long journeys. The interviews also highlight the diversity of situations and make it possible to identify populations of patients for whom distance is a much less bearable constraint, and can therefore generate social and spatial health inequalities.